How a Hofferson Trains her Dragon
by CessieRose25
Summary: Astrid is a Viking teen whose luck never seems to play out in her favour. During one of many dragon raids on Berk, a chance to be accepted by the village presents itself when she shoots down a Night Fury but instead of killing it, Astrid ends up befriending it. This leads to a journey of discovery which results in Astrid questioning her position in the tribe. Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: This is Berk**

_This is Berk. It's twelve days North of Hopeless and a few degrees South of Freezing to Death. It is located solidly on the Meridian of Misery. My village. In a word - sturdy. It's been here for seven generations yet every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests._

A nearby sheep bleated as something snatched it out of nowhere. The other sheep continued grazing.

_You see most places have mice or mosquitoes; we have..._

A blonde girl opened the door of her house but slammed it shut almost immediately as a river of flame was sent in her direction.

"Dragons!" she breathed. Outside the villagers were battling with the almost nightly raid of dragons that Berk had experienced for Thor-knows-how-long.

_Most people would leave. Not us, we're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues._

The girl ran outside, ducking and dodging as the chaos raged around her.

_My name's Astrid. Great name, I know, but it's better than most. Parents believe that a unique name will scare off gnomes and goblins. Like our charming Viking demeanour wouldn't do that. _

Astrid was, by this point, flat on her back and had a Viking screaming in her face. When he realised that she wasn't a dragon, he gave a cheery "Morning!" and ran off. Astrid continued to run through the village, despite the constant warnings for her to get back inside, in order to get to the one place where she felt needed. On the way, she nearly ran into a stream of fire when she was scooped out of the way (more like, grabbed by the scruff of the neck) at the last second by the one person no one wanted to anger.

"Astrid!" the man shouted. "What is she doing out again...what are you doing out?" he snapped. "Get inside!"

_That's Stoick the Vast, chief of the tribe. They say that when he was a baby, he knocked a dragon's head clean off its shoulders. Do I believe it? Yes, I do._

"What have we got?" Stoick asked a nearby Viking.

"Gronkles, Nadders, Zipplebacks...oh, and Horak saw a Monstrous Nightmare!" the Viking replied, ducking as a shower of sparks hit the house behind them.

"Any Night Furies?"

"None so far."

"Good."

Meanwhile, Astrid had made it to the forge where a large man with a hammer as a hand was waiting.

"Oh, nice of you to join the party," he greeted. "I thought you'd been carried off."

"Who, me?" Astrid smirked, throwing her work apron over her blue top and spiked skirt. "Nah, come on. I'm way too muscular for their tastes. They wouldn't know what to do with all this," she added, lifting a heavy hammer onto its stand and then gesturing at herself before striking a muscle-pose. Not that it had any effect – Astrid was one of the skinniest teens on Berk and she knew it.

"Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?" the guy asked in equal cynicism as Astrid ran over to the window to grab some weapons that had been dropped off.

_The meat-head with the attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber. I've been his apprentice ever since I was little. Well, littler._

Another house outside was hit by a fireball.

_See? Old village; lots and lots of new houses._

Outside, the raid continued. Stoick gave orders to move to the lower defences and to set up the catapults. Astrid had handed over some arrows to a Viking when a shout of "Come on!" caught her attention. Shifting her gaze to the nearby water pump, she recognised her peers.

_Oh, that's Fishlegs; Snotlout; the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut_,_ and..._

The last boy threw his bucket of water over a nearby fire just as another fireball exploded behind him.

_...Hiccup._

Astrid could only stare as the cutest boy in the village and the others just strode calmly through the inferno. She'd had a crush on Hiccup ever since she was a baby – heck, she'd grown up with him after her parents were killed – but he had never returned her feelings. Okay, so 'Hiccup' was a pretty weird name but it made people think twice about making fun of him when he kicked their butt (trust me, he was good at it).

_Oh, their job is so much cooler._

Astrid watched as the teens ran past the forge. Checking no one was looking, she began to clamber over the windowsill when Gobber yanked her back.

"Aww, come on. Let me out, please!" she moaned. "I need to make my mark!"

"Oh, you've made plenty of marks," Gobber replied, putting her down. "All in the wrong places!"

"Please, two minutes," Astrid pleaded. "I'll kill a dragon; my life will get infinitely better...I might even get a date! Heck, Hiccup might not even be embarrassed that I live under the same roof as him." That last one was something Astrid wanted more than anything else and killing a dragon would _definitely _earn her the respect from Hiccup she so desperately wanted - she was sick of him just plain ignoring her all the time at home.

"You can't lift a hammer..." Gobber pointed out. Astrid thought otherwise – anyone could lift a hammer. "You can't swing an axe..." Okay, he had a point there. "You can't even throw one of these!" he finished, holding up a bola cannon when a Viking conveniently came along and stole it, using it to knock a nearby Gronkle out of the sky. Astrid huffed.

"Okay, fine," she admitted. "But this..." she explained, indicating her latest invention – the Mangler. "...will throw it for me." She patted it fondly when it spontaneously went off, the resulting bola cannon hitting a Viking on the head.

"Now this here is what I'm talking about!" Gobber groaned.

"Mild calibration issues..." Astrid stuttered.

"Don't you... Astrid, if you ever want to get out there and fight dragons," Gobber sighed. "You need to stop all...this," he finished, gesturing at the girl.

"But you just pointed to all of me!" Astrid spat.

"That's it. Stop being all of you," Gobber summed up. Astrid glared at him.

"You, sir, are playing a dangerous game," she growled, without much effect due to her small size. "Keeping this much raw Viking-ness contained... THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!"

"I'll take my chances," Gobber replied in a deadpan voice. "Sword. Sharpen. Now." Astrid found herself with a heavy sword in her arms and on the way to the grinding wheel. There were times when she really hated her life.

_One day I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon is everything around here. A Nadder head is sure to get me at least noticed. Gronkles are tough. Bringing down one of those would definitely get me a boyfriend. The Hideous Zippleback – exotic. Two heads – twice the status. Then there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those – they have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire._

On cue, a flaming Monstrous Nightmare attacked a catapult tower. Stoick ordered the others to reload whilst he took care of the dragon. A ballistic noise scared the thing away and caught everyone's attention. Not good.

_But the ultimate prize is a dragon that no one has ever seen. We call it the..._

"NIGHT FURY!"

"GET DOWN!"

A blast of blue flame hit a catapult tower and for a fleeting moment, a black shape flashed past before disappearing into the night. Astrid walked over to check the commotion. She could never be sure that a Night Fury was really out in the thick of the battle until it had struck again - if it did, it would be the chance she had been waiting for.

_This thing never steals food, never shows itself and..._ another blast..._ never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury, which is why I'm going to be the first._

"Man the forge, Astrid. They need me out there," Gobber instructed, fitting an axe onto his arm. "Stay. Put. There." Astrid stared at him blankly. "You know what I mean." With that, he vanished into the chaos with a loud battle cry. As soon as he was out of sight, Astrid whipped off her apron and dashed outside with her Mangler. Finding a quiet spot outside the village, she set it up and waited.

"Come on," she whispered. "Give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at." Right now, anything would be welcome but a Night Fury would be perfect. As if the gods were answering her prayers, a screeching sound fill the area and another tower was blasted. As soon as she saw a flash of black in the flame, Astrid fired. The force knocked her back but a roar was all she needed to know.

"Whoa, I hit it?" she breathed. "YES! I HIT IT! Did anybody see that?" she grinned, turning back to the village. No one had but a crunch behind her told her she was no longer alone. "Except for you," she moaned, looking at the Monstrous Nightmare that had just crushed her machine.

Meanwhile, Stoick and his companions had caught a couple of Deadly Nadders but a high-pitched scream caught the chief's attention and he spotted the all too familiar silhouette of his foster daughter being chased by another dragon. Close by, Hiccup facepalmed.

"Do not let them escape!" Stoick ordered, running after the girl. Astrid dodged the sticky flames and eventually hid behind a watch tower as it caught alight. Peeking round, she didn't notice the dragon's head coming up behind her when Stoick bashed it out of the way. It tried to frazzle the chief but all that came out of the dragon's mouth was a pitiful flame. It had surpassed its shot limit.

"You're all out," Stoick sneered and, after a few knocks to the head, the Monstrous Nightmare flew off, along with the other dragons and their kill. The tower Astrid had hidden behind burnt through and fell through the village, causing the Nadders from earlier to be set free.

"Sorry, Stoick," she moaned.

_Oh and there're two more things you need to know..._

"Dad, remind me why I'm engaged to her again," Hiccup grumbled.

Hiccup was Stoick's son and was betrothed to Astrid.

* * *

**AN: I'm back! I know the whole Astrid-and-Hiccup-swap-places thing has been done a lot but I thought I'd give it a go myself. Hope you guys like it.**

**For those who have read my ****_Adventures of Valkyra Horrendous Haddock II_**** series, the third and final story in the main trilogy is in the works right now and with any luck I should have enough material to start posting some time in the new year. I haven't forgotten about it - I'm just posting this story (and maybe some others if I have time...stupid school...) until there's enough story to post on here.**

**Again, sorry about the wait for something new to come up and I hope this story doesn't disappoint. No flames in the reviews please but any constructive criticism is welcome - I'm always looking to improve.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: I Hit a Night Fury**

Astrid grimaced as she felt the eyes of practically every villager bore into her soul. She'd screwed up again; she'd embarrassed her chief/future father in-law and foster-brother/fiancé; and she was nigh on responsible for the loss of half of the food. Maybe this will help out.

"Okay, but I hit a Night Fury," she pointed out when Stoick grabbed her again and started dragging her away. Astrid had claimed to hit a Night Fury countless times before and guess what? No Night Fury. "Not like the last few times, Stoick!" she protested. "I mean, I really actually hit it! You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot. It went down just off Raven's Point – let's get a search party out before it..."

"STOP!" Stoick roared. "Just, stop, Astrid. Every time you step outside disaster falls. Can't you see I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here and I have an entire village to feed!" Astrid smirked.

"Eh, between you, me and the wall the village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?" she pointed out. A couple of Vikings patted their stomachs in confusion and offense.

"This isn't a joke, Astrid," Stoick snapped. "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"

"I can't stop myself!" Astrid shrugged. "I see a dragon and I just have to kill it," she added, miming ripping a dragon's head off. "It's who I am, Stoick."

"You're...many things, Astrid," Stoick sighed. "But a dragon killer is not one of them. Get back to the house. Make sure she gets there!" he instructed Gobber. "I've her mess to clean up." Gobber began to lead the teenager back to the house, passing the other teens on the way.

"Quite the performance," Tuffnut sneered.

"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly," Snotlout chuckled meanly. "That helped!"

"Thank you, thank you, I was trying," Astrid trailed off as Gobber bashed the boy to the ground. Hiccup didn't say anything – he barely did – and just continued fiddling with his sword.

"I really did hit one!" Astrid protested to Gobber as they reached the house.

"Sure you did, Astrid," Gobber replied.

"He never listens!"

"Well, it runs in the household..."

"And when he does it's always with this disappointed scowl like someone skimmed on the meat in his sandwich," Astrid continued before doing her best impression of Stoick's voice. "Excuse me, barmaid! I'm afraid you brought my son the wrong fiancée! We ordered an extra strong girl with a tough attitude, extra guts and glory on the side. This here – this is a talking fish bone who comes from a family who can't even live up to their own name!"

"Now, you're thinking about this all wrong," Gobber contradicted. "It's not so much what you look like and it's _certainly_ not what about what happened to your uncle!"

"Don't give me that," Astrid huffed, crossing her arms angrily. "Everyone thinks it." "

"You were four at the time, Astrid – it was hardly your fault," Gobber sighed. "It's really none of that – it's what's _inside_ that he can't stand." Astrid stared at her mentor. She wasn't buying it.

"Thank you, for summing that up," she groaned, turning to the house.

"Look, all I'm trying to say is, stop trying so hard to be something you're not," Gobber sighed. Astrid sagged as she went into the house.

"I just want to be one of you guys...and not just 'the niece of Frozen Finn Hofferson'."

Satisfied that the girl was now indoors, Gobber went back to the village to attend a meeting. At the same time, Astrid slipped out of the back door and into the woods.

Meanwhile, in the Meade Hall, Stoick had gathered the Vikings to talk about the latest trip to find the dragon's nest.

"Either we finish them or they'll finish us! It's the only way we'll be rid of them," he explained. "If we find the nest and destroy it the dragons will leave. They'll find another home." He stabbed the map with a dagger. "One more search before the ice sets in."

"Those ships never come back!" someone protested.

"We're Vikings – it's an occupational hazard," Stoick retaliated. "Now who's with me?" A mumbling of excuses went around the hall. Stoick knew what would get them hooked. "Okay – those who stay get look after Astrid." The response was immediate – anyone would rather put their lives on the line than take care of the wayward Viking. "Aye, that's more like it," Stoick grinned.

"Right, I'll pack my undies," Gobber said, draining his drink.

"No, I need you to stay and train some new recruits," Stoick instructed. Gobber could see the flaw in this before it was mentioned.

"Oh, great. And while I'm busy, Astrid can cover the store. Molten steel; lots of sharp objects; plenty of time to herself...what could possibly go wrong?"

"What am I going to do with her, Gobber?" Stoick sighed.

"Put her in training with the others," Gobber replied.

"No, I'm serious!"

"So am I!"

"She'll be killed before you let the first dragon out of its cage!"

"Oh, you don't know that."

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don't!"

"You know what she's like," Stoick sighed. "Ever since she was little she's been...different! She doesn't listen; she has the attention span of a sparrow. I'd take her and Hiccup fishing and she go hunting for...for trolls!"

"Trolls exist!" Gobber protested. "They steal your socks but only the left ones. What's with that?" He then went back to fishing something out of his mug. It turned out to be his false tooth.

"When her parents, Valka and I were young..."

"Here we go."

"...my father told us all to bang our heads against a rock. We all thought it was crazy but we didn't question and do you know what happened when Astrid's mother hit hers?"

"She got a headache?"

"Her rock smashed to smithereens!" Stoick corrected. "It taught us what Vikings could do, Gobber. They could crush mountains; level forests; tame seas! Even as kids we knew what we were – what we had to become." He paused for a moment. "Astrid is not that kid. The Hoffersons had such promise...and then Finn had to get himself in a situation that ruined everything for them."

"You realise that that's why she's trying so hard to impress everyone, right?" Gobber pointed out. Stoick nodded – he knew that Astrid was trying to repair her family's reputation.

"Yes, I know," he replied. "She doesn't want to be known simply as 'the Hofferson that married a Haddock to restore her family's honour'." Everyone knew the story of Fearless Finn Hofferson and the fateful night almost ten years ago. Since then, the Hofferson family reputation had been in scraps – they were known to be the bravest clan on the island and in a single moment everything had been dashed by the actions of Astrid's uncle.

"She's got the same stubbornness that every other Hofferson has had before her. You can try all you like but you can't stop her, Stoick," Gobber sighed. "You can only prepare her." Stoick sighed. "I know it sounds hopeless but the truth is, you won't always be around to protect her and Hiccup's going to have other things on his mind," Gobber pointed out. "She's going to get out again – she's probably out there now!"

Stoick sighed when he realised that Gobber was right. Maybe he should give Astrid a chance.

* * *

**AN: Some people may have been wondering why Astrid is engaged to Hiccup – well, hopefully that explains things a little bit. This actually links in with an episode from ****_Defenders of Berk_**** which, I must admit, I was so happy about because it provided a really good reason for this (if you know the episode I'm talking about don't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen the series yet).**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: The Downed Dragon**

Astrid quickly looked at her map and closed her eyes. It had to be there. It just had to be...

...not there. Groaning in frustration, Astrid scribbled out her map and put her sketchbook in her leather pouch.

"Oh, the gods hate me," she huffed. "Some people lose their knife or their mug. No, not me, I managed to lose an entire DRAGON!" she snapped at herself, slapping a branch only to have it whip her face in retaliation.

Astrid had been searching all morning for the blasted dragon and so far had come up with nothing. The closest she'd found was a bunch of rocks. Astrid was sick to the teeth with it – the one chance she had to make things right in her life again and it was going down the bog already. Astrid glared daggers at the tree but stopped when she saw that it had snapped in two. Following the trail of debris and a path of mud, Astrid peeked over a small mole hill and ducked back down when she spotted a black shape.

Cautiously peeking over the boulder, Astrid's jaw hit the ground. There was no question that it was a dragon but what if it was just sleeping? Daring another look, she could see it was unconscious...and bound in the ropes that had been part of her bola ammunition from the night before. Still, it was a dragon nonetheless so she whipped out the only weapon that came to hand...a puny dagger. She ran over to a boulder, hid behind it before summing up the courage to walk right up to the dragon.

Not just any dragon – a Night Fury.

"Oh, gods...I did it!" she gasped. "Oh! This fixes everything! Yes! I have brought down this mighty beast!" she cheered, placing her foot on the beast's leg when it suddenly shuddered. Holding her dagger in front of her, she noticed the dragon's bright green eyes, gazing up at her. Something twanged inside her but she couldn't back down. "I'm gonna kill you, dragon," she muttered. "I'm gonna cut out your heart and take it to my chief. I am a Viking," she murmured, more to herself. "I AM A VIKING!" she yelled and raised the dagger to stab the beast in front of her. Looking at the thing again, she saw the fear in the Night Fury's eyes. No – she could do this...she had too...she tried one more time but her arms wouldn't come down.

She couldn't. Astrid looked at the dagger and at the dragon, whose eyes were now closed in resignation.

"I did this," she whispered, beginning to walk away. Something stopped her – she couldn't just leave the poor thing there. Knowing she was now officially crazy, Astrid turned back and began cutting the dragon loose.

Big mistake. The next thing Astrid knew, she had a jet black dragon on top of her with pure hate written all over its face. She struggled in its grip but its paw was right over her throat. Astrid sighed – no one would miss her. Hiccup will find another fiancée; Ruffnut wasn't exactly a mismatch for him. She shut her eyes...

...and was nearly deafened as the beast roared in her face before shooting off into the forest.

Breathing heavily, Astrid got to her feet, stumbled around a bit before promptly fainting on the spot.

It was well after nightfall when Astrid got back to the village. She snuck into the house she had called home for the past ten years and bit her lip when she saw Stoick by the fire and Hiccup reading a book on myths and legends. She tried to sneak up the stairs but Hiccup's sharp ears caught her out.

"Astrid," he huffed. Stoick turned to face his foster daughter. Astrid cussed under her breath.

"Stoick, Hiccup," she stuttered. "I...I need to talk to you, guys."

"Good," Stoick nodded. "I need to talk to you too, lass." Hiccup went back to reading when the girl and his dad both said their sentences at the same time.

"I've decided I don't want to fight dragons / It's time you learnt how to fight dragons."

"What?" all three blinked. Stoick indicated Astrid to go first but the girl insisted her chief went first. What neither Hiccup nor Astrid was expecting was what came next.

"Okay. You get your wish," Stoick sighed. "Dragon Training – you'll be joining Hiccup and the others in the morning."

"WHAT?!" Hiccup yelped in surprise, dropping his book and crashing through the straw seat of his chair. Astrid cursed.

"Oh, man!" she groaned. "I should have gone first! Because I was thinking, you know, we have a surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings..." she made her point by indicating Hiccup, who nodded eagerly. "But do we have enough...bread making Vikings?"

"Uh..._you_ can't cook!" Hiccup pointed out cruelly as he struggled to pull himself out of the seat of his chair.

"What about small home repair Vikings...?" Astrid continued. Dammit, she should have known Hiccup would pick up on that. Stoick didn't listen and dumped an axe in Astrid's arms. "I don't want to fight dragons!"

"Excuse me?" Hiccup frowned. This was the first he'd heard of such a thing. All he'd ever heard Astrid talk about for the last ten years was fighting dragons and getting revenge on the dragon who'd frozen her uncle in fear!

"Come on, yes you do," Stoick chuckled.

"Rephrase: Stoick, I _can't_ kill dragons!" Astrid retried.

"Oh, she _finally_ realises!" Hiccup sneered cynically, picking himself out of the chair and getting his book off the floor. Astrid was too embarrassed to shoot him a glare.

"But she _will_ kill dragons!" Stoick argued to his son who sagged.

"No, I'm pretty extra sure that I won't," Astrid grimaced.

"It's time, Astrid!"

"Can you not hear me?"

"This is serious, lass!" Stoick snapped. "When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you. That means you walk like us; you talk like us...you think like us! No more of...this." Astrid groaned.

"You just gestured to all of me."

"Do we have a deal?"

"The conversation is feeling very one-sided..."

"Deal?!" Stoick roared – even Hiccup cringed a bit. Astrid sighed.

"Deal," she moaned.

"Good," Stoick nodded. "You two train hard. I'll be back. Probably." Hiccup and Astrid both sighed.

"And I'll be here," Astrid shrugged, staring blankly at the axe in her hands as the door shut. Hiccup gave her a look.

"Maybe," he growled, storming up to bed. Astrid sighed and followed the boy up the stairs and vanishing into the room across the house from his.

/\

Hiccup slammed the book down on his bedside table and flopped onto his wooden bed in frustration. Perfect – the time when Astrid had _finally_ accepted that she didn't have what it took to kill dragons and his dad actually allowed her to join Dragon Training?! What, had Stoick been hit in the head by a fireball last night?

"What in Thor's name is he thinking?" Hiccup muttered to himself. He listened for a while as he heard Astrid go to bed in the room across the house from his own before blowing his candle out. Hiccup lay in the dark for a while but couldn't get to sleep – he was so angry with the whole thing that he couldn't actually close his eyes. "Why would she change her mind anyway?" he mumbled absent-mindedly. "All she's talked about for years is avenging her uncle..."

Hiccup remembered the day he'd found out that he was engaged to Astrid as though it was only a week ago:

_"Stoick," Helga Hofferson greeted as she walked in through the door of the chief's residence. "I'm sorry to intrude like this..."_

_"Don't worry about it, Helga," Stoick replied calmly, letting the woman, her husband and a small child – a young girl whose blonde hair was tied into two large pigtails on either side of her head – into the house. "What is it you wanted to see me about?"_

_"It's Astrid," Helga's husband, Elgar, replied. The girl, Astrid, huffed at her parents' side. "And...also my brother."_

_"I see," Stoick nodded expressionlessly. "What can I do for you?"_

_"We don't want her to life her adult life linked to him," Helga replied sadly. "You know the dishonour he's brought upon our name...it would ruin Astrid..."_

_"I'm right here!" the girl pouted, stamping her foot so that her oversized helmet flopped over one storm-blue eye. "And Uncle Finn wasn't scared of that dragon! I know he..."_

_"Astrid," Elgar cut across sternly. Astrid shut up when her gaze drifted to the staircase to her left. Standing on the stairs was a young boy with messy auburn-brown hair and forest green eyes. It was Hiccup, Stoick's son and a boy whom Astrid held a major crush on despite only being four years old. If there was anyone she wanted to impress it was him. Hiccup, on the other hand, didn't look too happy to see her or her family._

_"What're they doing here, Dad?" the four-year-old boy asked coolly. Stoick turned and gave his son a stern look._

_"Business matters, son," he explained. "Never you mind." He turned back to the Hoffersons. "What is it you want of me?"_

_"I know it's early," Helga began uncertainly. Elgar stepped in._

_"We were hoping that an engagement to your son may give her a better future," he explained. Hiccup froze on the stairs and Astrid stiffened. Okay, they may have been little older than toddlers but they knew what the word 'engagement' meant. "She won't have to live with a shamed name any longer."_

_"Right," Stoick nodded his understanding. He had his doubts about the arrangement. "Have you thought of the complications it might bring to my family?"_

_"We're sorry to bring this on you," Helga apologised. "But Astrid's not to blame for what happened to Finn – I'm sure she won't act so foolishly."_

_"Mommy?" Astrid whimpered. "What're you saying?" Anyone could tell that this child was anything but happy with this idea, despite the fact that she was trying to hide it. Hiccup, however, was more expressive in his views, having somehow swallowed multiple books at birth and able to spout out more words than a typical Viking child could at six, let alone four!_

_"Can I just say I veto this idea?" he snapped, stamping his foot childishly. "If you think I'm gonna marry her..." he spat, pointing at Astrid but making no eye contact with her. Astrid cringed shamefully. "...you've got another thought coming!"_

_"Hiccup," Stoick cut across. "You heard Helga – it wasn't Astrid's fault. With any luck she'll grow up to be as strong a Viking as any." He faced the Hofferson parents again. "As chief I understand that the needs of the clans in my care are my first priority," he noted. "It is settled."_

_"WHAT?!" the two children spluttered simultaneously._

Hiccup had never forgiven his father for his actions that day and he'd never accepted that Astrid wasn't as dishonoured as the rest of her family had been just because she was so small when Finn had ruined their reputation as the bravest family on the island. Not to mention Astrid seemed to carry misfortune with her wherever she went – the day after the betrothal had been arranged, another dragon raid struck the village and both of Astrid's parents had been killed. Astrid herself had moved in with the Haddocks under Stoick's suggestion the very next day and it had been from that day on that Hiccup had had to put up with her constantly going on about how she would become the greatest Dragon Killer of all time despite the fact she couldn't fight for wolf hide.

That's why he was so confused about her change of heart. What had happened between the time Astrid had claimed to have shot down a Night Fury and this evening to make her admit that she couldn't kill dragons?

And why had she said that she won't?

/\

"Welcome to Dragon Training!" Gobber announced the next morning.

"No turning back," Hiccup murmured, grasping his sword and entering the arena. The twins, Fishlegs and Snotlout followed. It was the first time they had been in this place instead of in the stands as spectators and they (minus Hiccup) were bursting with excitement.

"I hope I get some serious burns!" Tuffnut grinned.

"I'm hoping for some mauling," Ruffnut shrugged."Like, on my shoulder or lower back."

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it," Hiccup smirked.

"No kidding, right?" a voice piped up. It was Astrid. "Pain – love it!"

"Oh, great!" Ruffnut moaned. "Who let her in?"

"Let's get started!" Gobber continued. "The recruit that does best will win the honour of killing their first dragon in front of the entire village!"

"Astrid already killed a Night Fury," Snotlout pointed out. "So does that disqualify her or...?" The twins burst out laughing. Hiccup just turned away – he had more important things to focus on than the others jeering at Astrid. Astrid felt slightly saddened that Hiccup felt that way – true, she knew that Hiccup had never liked her (he tolerated her at best) but it still hurt.

"Can I transfer to class with the cool Vikings?" Ruffnut laughed. That didn't exactly make Astrid feel any better.

"Don't worry," Gobber comforted. "You're small – weak. That'll make you less of a target. They'll see you as sick or insane and go for the more Viking-like teens instead." Yeah, that helped. "Behind these doors are just a few of the species that you will learn to fight. The Deadly Nadder..."

"Speed: 8. Armour: 16," Fishlegs recited at top speed. Hiccup huffed. The last thing he needed right now was a dragon statistics update.

"The Hideous Zippleback..."

"Stealth times 2."

"The Monstrous Nightmare..."

"Firepower: 15."

"The Terrible Terror..."

"Venom: 12..."

"Will you stop that?!" Gobber snapped. Fishlegs shut up. "And the Gronkle."

"Jaw strength: 8," Fishlegs muttered in an undertone to Astrid. Gobber started a mechanism that opened one of the cage doors. Snotlout panicked.

"Whoa! Wait!" he cried. "Aren't you gonna teach us first?"

"I believe in learning on the job," Gobber shrugged as a Gronkle was let loose. The teens ran in all directions, trying to avoid the thing. "Today is about survival. If you get blasted, you're dead!" Well, that was reassuring. "Quick! What's the first thing you need?"

"A doctor?" Astrid yelped.

"Plus five speed?" Fishlegs suggested. That would be nice. Hiccup was the only one who stayed calm enough to give a sensible answer.

"A shield!" he cried.

"Shield! GO!" Gobber called. The teens scrambled for shields. Astrid went for a red one with white decoration but had trouble picking it up before Gobber came along and shoved it onto her arm. "Your most important piece of equipment is your shield. If you have to make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield!"

"Take your hands off my shield!" Tuffnut snapped as he and his sister went for the same shield.

"There's like a million shields!" Ruffnut retorted.

"Take that one! That one has a flower on it – girls like flowers." Not if they were called Ruffnut Thorston. She snatched the shield and thwacked her brother's head with it.

"Oops," she smirked. "Now this one has blood on it!" The twins went back to squabbling, not noticing the Gronkle coming in their direction. A fireball blasted the shield and left them dazed.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, you're out!" Gobber announced. "Those shields are good for another thing – noise. Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim." The teens started banging their shields – there was an immediate effect. The Gronkle's vision was visibly affected. "Now, every dragon has limited number of shots. How many does a Gronkle have?"

"Five?" Snotlout guessed.

"No! Six!" Fishlegs grinned, over the moon that his extensive dragon knowledge actually came in handy for once.

"Correct – six. That's one for each of you," Gobber nodded as Fishlegs' shield was blasted. "Fishlegs – out." Fishlegs ran for the nearest cover, screaming like a girl. Gobber noticed Astrid wasn't in sight. "Astrid! Get in there!"

Astrid sighed, emerging from behind the weapons rack before ducking behind it again as a fireball was sent in her direction. Meanwhile, Snotlout was trying to talk to his cousin.

"So, cous, I was wondering if maybe sometime you'd like to come over to my house for some family catch up," he grinned. Hiccup wasn't listening, his eyes fixed on the Gronkle. "You really should come by some time to work out." Hiccup somersaulted out of the way. "You look like you work out..." Snotlout added, not seeing the Gronkle shoot a fireball in his direction and he was blasted.

"Snotlout, you're done" Gobber announced. Astrid walked over to Hiccup, grinning sheepishly.

"I guess it's just you and me, huh?" she shrugged, not paying attention to the Gronkle that was coming in their direction.

"Nope," Hiccup straightened up. "Just you." He jumped out the way just as Astrid was blasted. That was five...

"One shot left!" Gobber called as Astrid ran for after her shield. The Gronkle cut her off and backed her up against a wall. "ASTRID!" Astrid shut her eyes as she saw the glow of the Gronkle's flame at the back of its mouth. This one wasn't going to let her live – she waited...when something yanked the Gronkle out of the way and the fireball hit the wall where her head had been seconds before. "And that's six," Gobber huffed, dragging the Gronkle away with his hook attachment. "Go back to bed you over grown sausage! You'll get another chance, don't you worry." The teens panted with relief and exhaustion – they'd made it through this one at least.

"Now remember," Gobber reminded them. "A dragon will always..._always_ go for the kill."

He had paused for effect but it got Astrid thinking.

* * *

**AN: Sorry for making Hiccup a bit of a jerk in this one. His character in this one is more like Astrid's from the film because he's fully aware of the expectations upon him as the son of the chief and he realises that even with his less-than-intimidating stature he needs to rise to those expectations. **

**Longer chapter than usual but I wanted to make up for the long wait for this to come out - sorry about that!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: The Dragon Book**

_A dragon will always go for the kill._

"So why didn't you?" Astrid wondered aloud, picking up one of the parts of her bola cannon in the forest. Following the path which the dragon had taken the previous day, she eventually came to a cove where the Night Fury probably would have been...if it had stayed. Looking around, there was no sign of the black dragon anywhere. Astrid mentally kicked herself. "Well, this was stupid," she huffed. Something glinted on the ground, catching her eye. Bending down, she spotted a small black shiny object, barely bigger than her palm and as smooth as glass. She examined it for a split second when something knocked her off-balance.

The Night Fury.

It was struggling to climb up the smooth walls of the cove and flying aimlessly around. Astrid's breathing increased and she hopped down to a ledge to get a better look. Grabbing her sketch book, she drew a quick but detailed picture of the dragon in front of her but something didn't seem right.

"Why don't you just fly away?" she wondered. The dragon let off a fireball in annoyance and tried to fly again. Astrid noticed that it only had one tail fin – the right one. She rubbed the left one out of her drawing. She was so in awe of the dragon that she lost concentration and dropped her pencil. The sound alerted the dragon of her presence and it stared straight at her. Astrid felt sort of weird. She wasn't scared; frightened or even nervous. She was...

...curious?

She tilted her head slightly. The Night Fury mimicked the action.

/\

"Right, where did Hiccup go wrong in the ring today?" Gobber asked at supper in the Meade Hall that evening. Astrid arrived late, soaking wet due to the raging thunderstorm outside.

"I mistimed my somersault dive," Hiccup groaned. "It was sloppy and threw off my reverse tumble."

"Yeah, we noticed," Tuffnut grimaced.

"No – you were great!" Snotlout contradicted, sucking up to his cousin. "That was so Hiccup!"

"He's right," Gobber put in, referring to Hiccup. "You have to be tough on yourselves." Astrid at this point had collected her meal and was heading over to another table. "Where did Astrid go wrong?" Bugger, she'd hoped she wouldn't be noticed.

"Uh, she showed up," Tuffnut snickered.

"She didn't get eaten," Ruffnut added.

"She's _never_ where she should be," Hiccup growled. Astrid had a feeling he wasn't just referring to Dragon Training - heck, he thought that she shouldn't be living in his house most of the time and had voiced to Stoick on several occasions that he felt that Astrid should be residing elsewhere when he thought that she wasn't listening. Unfortunately for him, and for Astrid, that wasn't exactly the case back at the house.

"_Thank_ you, Hiccup," Gobber nodded. "You have to live and breathe this stuff." He brushed his meal aside and dumped a book on the table. "The Dragon Manual – everything we know about every dragon we know of." Thunder rumbled outside. If Astrid didn't know better, she would have thought they were under attack again. Luckily, dragons didn't attack during thunderstorms as they weren't able to light their fire if their heads were wet - why, Astrid had never quite understood. "No attacks tonight," Gobber noted. "Study up." Tuffnut, who had been fiddling with his knife, started.

"Wait, you mean _read_?" he moaned.

"While we're still alive?" Ruffnut added.

"Yeah, why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout agreed, banging his fist on the table.

"Oh, I've read it, like, seven times!" Fishlegs murmured excitedly. Hiccup smirked - that made two of them, although at least he didn't go reciting the darn book every five minutes like Fishlegs did. "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water in your face and there's this other one that buries itself for, like..."

"Yeah, sounds great," Tuffnut interrupted. "There was a chance I was gonna read that..."

"But now..." Ruffnut finished.

"You guys read, I'll go kill stuff," Snotlout sneered, exiting the hall, closely followed by the twins and Fishlegs. Astrid walked over to Hiccup.

"So, I guess we'll share?" she shrugged. Hiccup pushed the book towards her.

"Read it," he snapped, leaving the table. Astrid wouldn't have been surprised – Hiccup spent any time that he wasn't practising fighting reading.

"Oh, all mine, then," she muttered. "Yes, so I'll see you..." The doors slammed. "...back home." Sighing, Astrid fetched another candle from the cupboard and settled down to read.

"_Dragon Classifications: Strike Class; Fear Class; Mystery Class_," she read. Skipping to the contents, she took a look at the first dragon. "_Thunderdrum: This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive noise that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight_," Gulping, Astrid turned the page. "_Timberjack: This gigantic creature has razor-sharp wings that can slice through full-grown trees. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight. Scauldron: Sprays boiling water at its victims. Extremely dangerous..._ah!" Astrid yelled as a flash of lighting accompanied another thunder clash. Come on, she thought. It's just a book. "_Changewing: Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on sight._" There were the familiars: Gronkles, Zipplebacks, etc. "_Boneknapper... Whispering Death..._" If anything, things were getting worse. "_Burns its victims...buries its victims...chokes its victims...turns its victims inside out...Extremely dangerous...Extremely dangerous...Kill on sight...Kill on sight...Kill on sight..._"

There were so many! Wasn't there one that was approachable? The last page caught Astrid's attention.

"_Night Fury_," she read. The page was pretty much blank apart from a few runes at the bottom. "_Speed: Unknown. Size: Unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance is to hide and pray that it does not find you_." That last part left Astrid feeling confused. Whipping out her drawing, she compared the book's description to the dragon she had seen earlier. Surely they weren't talking about the same thing...

/\

"I can almost smell them," Stoick muttered from the flagship. "They're close." He was leading the latest expedition to find the Dragon's Nest. "Steady!" The boats entered the fog wall that was Helhiem's Gate – somewhere in there the dragons resided. Seconds later, a flash of flame and a dragon silhouette was seen.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Forbidden Friendship**

"Hey, I just happened to notice that the book had nothing on Night Furies," Astrid pointed out to Gobber in training the next morning. "Is there, like, another book or sequel? Maybe a little Night Fury pamphlet?" A blast of flame melted the blade of Astrid's axe clean off the handle – she hadn't been paying attention to the lesson.

"Focus, Astrid!" Gobber yelled. "You're not even trying!" Astrid found herself face to face with the new dragon – a Deadly Nadder. Gobber had decided to set up a maze to add a further challenge. Astrid had to think fast – left...right...left...she chose right. "Today is about attack!" Gobber announced from the stands. "Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter." Fishlegs ran into a spot of trouble. The Nadder spotted him and sent a shower of spines from its tail in his direction.

"I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" he yelped, bringing his shield up to prevent himself from getting impaled. Gobber seemed bored.

"Look for its blind spot," he suggested. "Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it and strike!" By the look of things, the twins had found the blind spot – right in front of the dragon's beak. Then Ruffnut had to bring up her brother's hygiene issues.

"Erk!" she grimaced. "Do you ever bathe?"

"Don't like it?" Tuffnut sneered. "Go get your own blind spot." That was it.

"How about I give you one?" Ruffnut snapped. Unfortunately, their argument had caught the Nadder's attention and they barely managed to leap out of the way of the flames in time.

"Blind spot – yes. Deaf spot – not so much," Gobber shrugged from the stands. Astrid hadn't finished.

"So, how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?" she called.

"No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale," Gobber sighed. "NOW GET IN THERE!"

"I know, I know," Astrid groaned. "But, hypothetically..." A hushing noise snapped Astrid out of question mode for a second. It was Hiccup. He gestured for her to get down and she obliged. The Deadly Nadder was right around the corner. Waiting for the right moment, Hiccup somersaulted past the dragon, closely followed by Snotlout. Astrid tried to copy the action but her shield weighed her down and she failed. Again, it was a miracle she missed being eaten. The Nadder soon found Hiccup who prepared to throw his sword at it but Snotlout inconveniently intervened.

"Watch out, cous," he warned, ignoring Hiccup's protest. "I'll take care of this." He threw his hammer at the dragon...and missed by about a mile. Hiccup rolled his eyes and darted back into the maze. "The sun was in my eyes, Hiccup!" Snotlout moaned. "What do you want me to do? Block out the sun? I can do that you know..." Hiccup wasn't listening and Astrid wasn't paying attention.

"Has anyone ever come across one napping?" she asked. Hiccup was trying to get away from the Nadder and was headed straight for Astrid.

"Astrid!" Gobber shouted. Astrid whipped around to see Hiccup leaping off the top of one of the maze walls which the Nadder was knocking down by the dozen.

"ASTRID!" he yelped. The dust cleared to reveal Hiccup having landed on Astrid, his sword stuck in her shield.

"Ooh, love on the battlefield," Ruffnut sneered. Hiccup cursed under his breath as he struggled to get up.

"He could do better," Tuffnut shrugged.

"Here, why don't you...?" Astrid tried to speak but Hiccup just stood up, frustrated. The Nadder was headed their way and Hiccup had no weapon. Thinking fast and ignoring Astrid's yelps of pain, he yanked his sword and her shield off her arm and used them as a mêlée weapon, bashing the dragon on the head.

"Well done, Hiccup," Gobber congratulated. Hiccup panted and turned to Astrid, his face full of thunder.

"Is this some kind of joke to you?" he growled. "You're the one who's always said that she's gonna singlehandedly mend her family's reputation, Astrid!" he continued. "Well, I've got a newsflash for you. Our parents' war is about to become ours! I suggest that you figure out which side you're on!" The teens left, leaving Astrid curled up on the floor, embarrassed and feeling useless.

/\

Hiccup stormed back home still fuming. As soon as he'd walked through the door, he slammed the large oaken slab shut and threw his sword to the floor in frustration.

"What is _with_ her?!" he cried out angrily, slumping down on his favourite chair and completely forgetting that he'd put a hole in it a few nights ago. "WHOA! Thor-dammit..." he muttered, picking himself up and brushing his tunic down before opting to sit on the wooden bench by the dining table instead.

Once he was relatively settled, Hiccup groaned and put his head in his hands. He honestly couldn't figure out what was going on with Astrid - one minute she's hyped to fight dragons, the next she decides she can't (or at least doesn't want to) fight dragons and _now_ she won't stop asking for information on that Odin-damned Night Fury! Honestly, the girl was weirder than a yak wandering around the Wild Zone thinking it was a wolf.

"Is it just...getting to her?" Hiccup mumbled to himself, rubbing his temple to clear a frustrated headache that had been building up over the last few minutes. This was rapidly followed by a facepalm. "Oh, c'mon, Hiccup! You're not seriously starting to care, are you?" he hissed. "it's not like she's anything like you - she never takes responsibility for anything or takes anything seriously..." Hiccup found himself unable to continue as he remembered the one thing he and Astrid had in common - the loss of their mother and their desire to avenge that loss.

Hiccup hadn't seen his mother for years, not since he was little older than five in fact. On night after a dragon raid she'd just...vanished. She had been the one person Hiccup had ever really behaved like a child around so when she disappeared he shut himself away for a week. Astrid had tried talking to him but Hiccup hadn't wanted anything to do with her. He hadn't cared that she'd also lost her parents and was therefore the only person on Berk his age he could relate to - his cold demeanour had completely taken over at that point.

"It's not gonna bring her back," Hiccup mumbled bitterly, standing up and picking his sword off the floor. "And it's not changing anything between me and Astrid."

Hiccup headed back outside to get some afternoon practise in when he spotted Astrid running into the woods with a shield and what looked like a fish in her hand. Frowning, Hiccup gave chase for a short while but stopped when he reached the tree line. Shrugging, he headed down to the plaza where the others would be waiting for Combat Practise.

What business was it of his if Astrid wanted to go have a small campfire by herself?

/\

Whilst Hiccup and the others began Combat Practise in the village, Astrid headed back down to the cove, shield and fish in hand. Peeking through a small gap, she didn't see the Night Fury so she tossed the fish in. Still nothing. Astrid edged forward but the gap wasn't big enough and the shield got stuck. After three seconds of trying to dislodge it, she went in...unprotected. Picking up the fish, she looked around for the Night Fury. It found her first and stealthily walked over. Astrid gulped and held out the fish. The dragon was about to take it when it suddenly growled. Astrid started and looked at her dagger. She pulled it out of her belt and dropped it on the floor. This wasn't enough for the Night Fury and it indicated her to drop it in the lake, which she did, pulling off a rather fancy manoeuvre with her foot. The Night Fury did something that she never would have imagined.

It perked up, looking just like Hiccup's cat, Fiddlesticks. Astrid blinked and held the fish out again. Something about the dragon confused her.

"Hmm, toothless..." she noted. "I could have sworn you had..." The dragon's gummy mouth suddenly filled with razor-sharp teeth as it snatched the fish out of her hands. "...teeth," she squeaked. The Night Fury advanced, causing Astrid to fall over and back up against a rock. "Uh, no, no! Don't...I don't have any more," she whispered. The dragon made a few weird noises. Oh, no, no...yep. It regurgitated half of the fish into Astrid's lap. "Eww," she moaned. The dragon then sat back on its hind legs and a silence followed. After a couple of minutes...

...it gestured at the fish. Astrid looked at the fish and back at the dragon. Oh, man, she groaned inwardly, taking a bite out of the raw fish. Taste exploded in her mouth and not in a good way. She held the rest back out to the dragon but it just made a swallowing motion. You've got to be kidding me, Astrid sagged and recoiled as the disgusting mass of fish hit the bottom of her stomach. Gods, this was worse than her attempt at yaknog last Snoggletog... "Ergh..." she grimaced. The Night Fury mistook this as a sign of pleasure and licked its lips. Astrid grinned a small lopsided grin. Then...

...the dragon smiled back.

It was a gummy, toothless grin but a smile nonetheless. Astrid slowly stood up and stretched out her hand. This was a step too far for the dragon and its catlike demeanour vanished. It shot off to the other side of the cove to rest. Astrid followed and watched it burn a warm spot on the earth. It saw her – she waved. Annoyed at Astrid's persistence, the dragon covered its face with its tail. Astrid edged forward and tried to touch it again but the Night Fury raised its tail before she could get close enough. She quickly stood up and tried to act as if she hadn't done anything.

Later, Astrid was doodling something in the dirt. She was drawing the face of the Night Fury, purely out of boredom. Feeling a warm breeze behind her, she quickly finished it off, avoiding eye contact with the dragon behind her. The Night Fury vanished for a split second but when Astrid looked, it was carrying a branch in its mouth and also making lines in the sand. It twisted and turned, glancing occasionally at Astrid. When it was finished, Astrid looked around. She couldn't be sure because the drawing was so big but she could faintly see...was it her? She walked to find a better view-point when the dragon suddenly growled. Flinching, she saw that her foot had stepped on one of the lines. Lifting it up, the Night Fury calmed down. Grinning to herself, Astrid made the dragon perk up and growl alternatively before stepping over the line. Smiling, she walked around, placing her foot in the first space that she could see. The feeling was magical...like dancing...like...

...flying.

Feeling another breeze down her neck, Astrid turned to face the dragon. She held her hand out again but it growled at her once more. Shutting her eyes and turning away, Astrid held out her arm, not quite touching the beast. All of a sudden, she felt something nuzzle her hand. Opening her eyes, she saw the Night Fury's nose resting against her palm. It saw her, snorted and flew off. Astrid couldn't believe it. She had just made contact with a Night Fury! She couldn't just call it 'the dragon/Night Fury' or even 'it' anymore. It didn't feel right. She had the perfect name for him.

Toothless.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: A New Tail**

That evening, the recruits and Gobber had dinner round a campfire. Most of the teens had opted for chicken but Astrid wasn't particularly hungry and had gone for a small mackerel instead. Gobber was telling them the story of how he lost his hand and leg, which Astrid was pretty sure had changed on multiple occasions. She should know - she'd only been his apprentice for about eight years or something.

"...and with one twist he swallowed it whole!" he said. "I could see the look on his face – I was delicious. He must have spread the word because it wasn't a month before another one took my leg!"

"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon?" Fishlegs muttered. "As if your mind was still in control of it? You could kill the dragon by crushing its heart from the inside or something." The others just looked at him as if he was crazy.

"I swear I'm so angry right now! Snotlout growled, glaring at his chicken. "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight...with my face!"

"Uh-uh," Gobber shook his head. "It's the wings and tail that you really want." Astrid's ears pricked. What about the tail? "If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon." Astrid froze – she'd grounded Toothless! She had to do something. "Right, I'm off to bed," Gobber yawned. "You should be too. Tomorrow we move onto the big boys slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare." The teens grinned with excitement. "But who will win the honour of killing it?"

"It's gonna be me," Tuffnut snickered. "It's my destiny. See?" He revealed a black mark on his arm.

"Your mum let you get a tattoo?" Fishlegs breathed. Hiccup looked at Astrid's seat – it was vacant and her mackerel hadn't been touched. He saw her run down the steps into the village. Weird, he thought, turning back to the conversation. Again, if Astrid wanted to leave the conversation he wasn't going to stop her.

"It's not a tattoo – it's a birthmark."

"Okay, I've been stuck with you since birth and that was never there before!"

"Yes, it was! You just haven't seen me from the left side until now."

Practically in the middle of the night, Astrid snuck into the forge and took out her drawing of Toothless. Glancing at the tail, she put the left tail fin back. Much better. Now, she had downed Toothless – she was going to set things right. Armed with her forge resources, creative brain, a few diagrams and a handful of herbs to keep her awake which she had swiped from the infirmary she set to work on a new tail fin. It took nearly all night but she had it.

The next morning Astrid went down to the cove early with the tail fin under her arm and a basket full of fish. Toothless was just waking up.

"Hey, Toooothless," she called. "I brought you some breakfast – I hope you're hungry." She tipped the basket over to reveal the contents. "Okay, that's disgusting," she muttered as the fish spilled out onto the floor. Toothless began examining the fish, wondering what to eat first. "So we've got salmon, some nice Icelandic cod and a whole smoked eel," Astrid listed. She didn't know what he would like so she had taken some of everything from the store. But at the word 'eel', Toothless growled and backed away. Confused, Astrid held it up but Toothless practically screeched in her face. "No! No!" she yelped, tossing the eel away. "Yeah, I don't like eel much, either."

Once the eel was out of the way, Toothless began tucking in to breakfast. Astrid slowly crept round the back.

"That's it," she whispered. "I'll just be back here minding my own business..." Fixing the tail was harder than Astrid anticipated, what with Toothless moving around all the time. In the end, she sat on his tail and fixed it that way. Toothless felt the sudden weight on his tail and his jaw and wings dropped...had it grown back? Astrid finished fixing the tail. Opening it up, she had to say it didn't look too bad. "Not bad," she muttered. "If it works...WHOA!" she screamed as Toothless took to the skies. STUPID DRAGON! The balance went and Toothless began to plummet towards the wall of the cove. Thinking fast, Astrid yanked the tail open and Toothless pulled up. Astrid couldn't believe it. "Oh, my gods...it's working!" she gasped, turning Toothless back to Berk before he accidentally took her away. "Yes! Yes – I did it!" she cried, elated. Toothless heard her and spotted her on his tail. He flicked her off into the lake but it meant he lost control. Astrid was soaking but she couldn't care less.

"YEAH!"

/\

"Okay, what happened?" Hiccup made a face when Astrid staggered through the door with a larger than normal smile on her face (this was quickly replaced by an embarrassed grimaced), soaking wet and out of breath. "Did you fall down the well or something?"

"Uh..." Astrid stammered. She'd headed out that morning before Hiccup had woken up (for once) but she'd been so preoccupied with the new tail-fin she'd made for Toothless that she'd hadn't thought of a cover up. Thankfully Hiccup decided to shrug the whole thing off.

"Whatever," he huffed. "At any rate it should mean you're less likely to get yourself killed today." Astrid frowned.

"How so?" she asked. Hiccup raised an eyebrow and picked his sword up from the table and tossed Astrid her axe (she almost buckled under the weight but somehow managed to stay upright).

"Don't you remember?" he scowled. "We're fighting the Hideous Zippleback today."

Astrid gulped but hid a small smirk as she remembered the smoked eel she still had hidden in her belt pouch.

* * *

**AN: Short chapter but I wanted to end it here before the 'See You Tomorrow' segment. Next chapter should be a little bit longer.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: See You Tomorrow**

"Today is about teamwork," Gobber announced at Dragon Training. The teens had been put in pairs for today's exercise; Hiccup with Ruffnut (rather her than Astrid), Snotlout with Tuffnut and Astrid had been left with Fishlegs (she didn't mind – she got on best with Fishlegs). All they were armed with, today, was a bucket of water. "Now, a wet dragon's head can't light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes gas, the other lights it. Your job is to figure out which is which." The cage burst open, filling the ring with dust and gas.

"Razor sharp serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion," Fishlegs muttered to Astrid. "Prefers ambush attack, crushing its victims..."

"Will you please shut up and stop that?!" Astrid hissed. "I've got enough to worry about as it is..." she added under her breath. All around the Arena, the teens kept an eye out for any type of dragon-like shapes emerging from the smoke.

"If that dragon shows either of its faces," Snotlout muttered to Tuffnut. "I'm gonna... THERE!" he cried. He and Tuffnut emptied their buckets at the shapes.

"ARGH!" a nasally voice yelped as the two figures sharpened as emerged from the smoke.

"Hey! It's us, idiots!" Ruffnut snapped. It was Ruffnut and Hiccup – not the Zippleback.

"Your butts are getting bigger," Tuffnut sneered. "We thought you were a dragon." Hiccup's face darkened. Snotlout tried to cover up his friend's mistake.

"Not that there's anything wrong with a dragonesque stat..." he began when Hiccup punched him in the face. Ruffnut threw her bucket at Tuffnut who disappeared into the smoke seconds later. Hiccup brought his guard up.

"Wait," he murmured to Ruffnut before she ran after her brother. Suddenly, a tail whipped out beneath them, causing both Hiccup and Ruffnut to fall over and Hiccup to drop his bucket. Moments later, Tuffnut emerged from the smoke and began scrambling for the side of the Arena.

"OW! I am hurt!" he cried. "I am very much hurt!" Astrid smirked - please, the guy wasn't even sporting a nosebleed!

"Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now," Fishlegs noted worriedly.

"No kidding...Guard up!" Astrid warned as two heads emerged from the smoke. Fishlegs chucked his bucket at the nearest one. It breathed gas in his face.

"Oh. Wrong head," Fishlegs mumbled nervously as the head let loose a torrent of gas at him.

"FISHLEGS!" Gobber cried as Fishlegs ran for cover. It was down to Astrid. "Now, Astrid!" She threw her bucket into the air – the water missed and soaked her to the bone instead...again.

"Oh, you have _got_ to be _kidding_ me!" she moaned before the Zippleback knocked her over and she scurried backwards a few feet as the second head sparked dangerously above her. Gobber was getting worried.

"Astrid!" he yelled. Then, Astrid did something extraordinary. She got to her feet and began advancing on the Zippleback.

"Back! Get back!" she warned. "Now, don't make me tell you again. That's it – go back into your cage. Good," she muttered. "Now think about what you've done," she added, sneakily throwing in the eel from earlier. The Zippleback crouched in fear against the wall and Astrid closed the doors to the cage. None of the others had seen the eel so as far as they were concerned Astrid had forced the dragon back into its cage with her bare hands. Brushing herself down, Astrid turned to her classmates. They were staring at her in amazement and Fishlegs dropped his bucket. Astrid hid a snicker - Hiccup's face was priceless.

"So, are we done?" she asked. "Because I've got some...yeah, see you tomorrow!" With that, she ran out of the ring. Hiccup's emerald eyes blinked in surprise – who was this girl and what had she done with Astrid?

"What the heck?" he muttered.

/\

Astrid spent the rest of the day working on a saddle for Toothless. If he could only fly with her controlling him, she might as well do so safely. It took a while to get the thing on Toothless, though. She spent half of the afternoon chasing him around the cove. Whilst it was a bit of a time waster, Astrid was glad to have the first proper fun she'd had since before she could remember. When she finally got the thing fixed, she tried flying using a rope that she could pull with her hand. Result...

...another wet Toothless and Astrid.

"Dammit..."

/\

Astrid spent that evening sorting out a safety harness. Satisfied, she spent the next morning on another test flight with Toothless, this time controlling him with a rope attached to her foot. They made it out of the cove but they crashed again, this time in a field of long grass. Astrid fell someway away from Toothless but when she found him, he was rolling around like a cat gone high on catnip. Holding out a sample, Astrid grinned.

"Interesting," she muttered, tucking the grass into her belt pouch.

/\

They were back to the Gronkle in Dragon Training. All were out except Hiccup and Astrid. The dragon headed towards Astrid. Praying not to have an accident like the last time, Astrid shut her eyes and held out the grass sample. Immediately, the Gronkle changed from murderous bumblebee-reptile to tame and docile. Astrid smiled and rubbed its nose and silently named the grass dragon-nip.

"How did you do that?" the twins asked later on the way to lunch.

"I have never seen a Gronkle do that!" Snotlout added. Astrid needed to get away.

"I... er... left my axe back at the ring," she excused. "You guys go ahead – I'll catch up!" She turned back and nearly crashed into Hiccup. He stared after her. Something was not right.

"Seriously, what is with her?"

/\

The next day, Astrid spent some heart to heart time with Toothless. At one point, she went over to scratch him. He loved it and raised his head in pleasure. Astrid moved her scratching hand to his neck when he collapsed, purring with happiness. Astrid looked at her hands and grinned. So dragons had a pressure point? She left Toothless snoozing in the sun as she headed back for the village, leaving her harness behind a boulder in the cove and retrieving her spiked shoulder pads as she did so.

/\

"Alright, _what_ is going on?" Hiccup snapped irritably as he and Astrid arrived home after dinner that evening. Astrid had been on the verge of running upstairs to go to bed when Hiccup had stopped her.

"What do you mean?" she asked nervously.

"You know I hate my questions being answered with another question," Hiccup growled, crossing his arms and scowling. "When did you get so good?"

"Oh! Well...umm..." Astrid stammered. She knew Hiccup wasn't going to shrug this one off so she had to think of something and fast. "Just...trying a new approach I guess."

"You mean you're experimenting?" Hiccup affirmed.

"Uh...sure!" Astrid nodded worriedly. It was a half-truth. She was never sure if the techniques that worked with Toothless would work with all of the dragons. She'd just been lucky so far. "I mean, I wasn't doing to well with weapons before so..."

"You realise you could get yourself killed?" Hiccup pointed out angrily. Astrid was surprised to hear a hint of worry in his voice. "You can't afford to just _try things out_, Astrid. These are life-or-death situations we're getting ourselves into here!"

"You think I don't know that?" Astrid muttered, breaking eye contact and rubbing her arm nervously. She knew full well the gravity of the situation, except it was different for her than it was for Hiccup - whereas he had to make sure he kept his head and fought bravely in order to prove to not only the village but neighbouring tribes as well, that he was a worthy chieftain, Astrid had to keep her head and her secret otherwise it wouldn't just be her head that would roll also the head of the only true friend she'd ever had. Hiccup just didn't and couldn't know about that.

"Well, you're doing a _great_ job of showing it!" Hiccup huffed cynically. "Look, just try to stay out of the dragon's way tomorrow - we're back to the Deadly Nadder and I _do not_ want you in my way again!" he hissed, pushing past her on the stairs and storming up to bed. Astrid sighed, half in sadness as Hiccup still seemed so angry at her for something she didn't do and half in worry - she'd been dreading the return of the Deadly Nadder in training.

She was praying to every god she could think of that the pressure point she'd learnt from Toothless earlier that day would work.

/\

The Deadly Nadder was back. Hiccup was doing what he could to make it give up but the blue and yellow dragon was possibly as stubborn as he was. It spotted Astrid and she got herself into its blind spot, dropping her borrowed hammer and shield. Hiccup had collected his sword and was charging, letting out his signature battle cry. Knowing he was putting himself at risk, Astrid thought fast and began scratching the Nadder. When she hit the pressure point, it collapsed, revealing Hiccup with his sword poised and a shocked expression on his face.

That evening in the Meade Hall, Astrid collected her dinner and went over to her usual table. Hiccup smirked. That was normal, at least...

...until the entire hall went over to congratulate her. Hiccup was so annoyed, he slammed his mug on the table. This was _not_ happening!

/\

The next evening, Astrid was working in the cove on the saddle. Suddenly, Toothless pounced on something. Looking up and shifted her hammer, Astrid giggled as Toothless tried to catch the light that was reflecting off her tool. So like a cat.

/\

"Meet the Terrible Terror," Gobber announced. The teens waited for the dragon to come out of its cage. The Terrible Terror certainly sounded scary but none of them had really ever seen one. A sound resembling a metal cat-flap sounded and the teens were looking at the smallest dragon they had ever seen.

"Ha!" Tuffnut sneered. "It's like the size of my... WHOA! GET IT OFF!" The group never found out what part of Tuffnut's anatomy the Terror was the same size as because it had launched itself at his nose. Hiccup was about to move in when Astrid walked over. "OW! I am hurt! I am very much hurt!" The Terror seemed transfixed on something on the ground and Astrid was leading it back into its cage.

"Wow," Ruffnut commented as her brother righted himself. "She's better than you ever were!" she shot at Hiccup who raised an eyebrow at her.

"Say it and those will be the last words you ever speak," he growled under his breath as Astrid shut the door of the cage with her foot and grinned sheepishly at the others.

/\

_THUNK!_

Hiccup was slashing and throwing his sword at every tree he could see. How was this happening? How could Astrid...the weak, clueless Viking that _he'd_ had the misfortune to be engaged to...have suddenly improved? Yanking the blade out of an oak tree, Hiccup ran into a somersault dive and prepared to throw again...

...when he saw Astrid carrying something under her arm. Slightly embarrassed at being caught practising so furiously, Hiccup froze.

"Ah..." he grimaced, still holding his sword over his shoulder.

"Uh...hi..." Astrid mumbled before she ran off – clearly she was going somewhere she shouldn't. Hiccup ran after her and peered over a boulder. Nothing.

"Loki, Son of the Ice Giants..." he cussed under his breath, slamming his fist against the rock.

/\

Astrid had been spending days on the new flight mechanism and she believed that she finally had it. It was her most complicated and sophisticated mechanism ever and she was rather proud of it. Finding a windy spot at Raven's Point, she began constructing a sheet of different tail fin positions. She soon had three listed and was about to move onto the fourth when a sudden blast of wind sent her and Toothless flying into the woods. Toothless stood up... leaving Astrid hanging upside down at his side. Astrid glanced at the safety harness.

"Oh, great," she moaned. The harness had worked...just _too_ well. The hook had bent in on itself, meaning Astrid was stuck to Toothless until she got the tools she needed. And those were in the forge in the village.

/\

"Hey, Astrid," a Viking greeted, on his way to the Meade Hall. Astrid waved back awkwardly and began yanking Toothless over to the forge. His curiosity got the better of him and he began nosing everything in sight. The noise caught Hiccup's attention. _What the...?_ he wondered.

"Astrid?" he called. Astrid froze. "You in there?" Astrid whipped her apron over her harness and jumped out of the window, closing the shutters and praying to all of the gods and goddesses that Hiccup hadn't seen Toothless.

"Hiccup!" she greeted. "Hi, Hiccup...hi, Hiccup...hi, Hiccup..." _Oh, why do I have to get so flustered around him?_ she moaned inwardly.

"You know, I don't usually care what other people do," Hiccup explained. "But you've been acting weird. " Toothless had spotted a nearby sheep and yanked Astrid back. She grimaced. Hopefully it came out as a grin. "Uh, correction – make that weird_er_," Hiccup corrected himself. Suddenly, Astrid rose into the air and disappeared into the forge. Hiccup yanked the shutters open and searched the dark forge for the girl, failing to notice a Night Fury and Astrid race back to the cove behind him.

/\

The next morning, one ship returned to the docks. It was the flagship carrying the remainder of the Vikings who had gone on the expedition to find the nest. Stoick was among them. Gobber walked over to greet his friend.

"I trust you found the nest at least," he grimaced.

"Not even close," Stoick huffed. "I trust you had better luck than I did."

"Well, if what you mean by 'luck' you mean that your foster-parenting troubles are over," Gobber shrugged. "Then...yes." Stoick stopped in his tracks.

"Congratulations, Stoick!" one Viking woman called. "Everyone is so relieved!"

"Out with the old and in with the new, right?" another Viking cheered.

"We won't be missing that old nuisance."

"The village is throwing a party to celebrate!" Stoick could only think of one thing.

"She's gone?" he asked. The only reason he could think of the village celebrating in such a way was if Astrid had left the village altogether.

"Yeah, most afternoons actually," Gobber explained. Stoick frowned - so Astrid _had_ gone but not permanently? "But who can blame her? The life of a celebrity is very rough. She can barely walk through the village without being swarmed by her new fans."

"Astrid?" Stoick's frown deepened, if that was possible. His large eyebrows were already knitted together in confusion.

"Who'd have thought, eh?" Gobber smiled. "She has this way with the beasts."

For the first time in years, Stoick's face lit up with a smile. Who would have thought that the wayward Nordic Blonde who had been the bane of the Hooligan Tribe for almost a decade would keep her promise and be on her way to restoring her family's honour?


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Test Drive**

Astrid shifted her position in the saddle slightly. She had been anticipating this for days – she was finally taking Toothless for a test flight. The system had been perfected; she just needed to check if the positions worked as they should.

"Okay, boy, we're going to take this nice and slow," she breathed. Looking at her cheat sheet, she checked the positions. "Position Three...no, Four." She shifted her left foot and the tail fin changed its position. She led Toothless into a steady flight, passing under an outcrop where seagulls had made their home. "Okay, it's go time, it's go time," she decided, leading Toothless into a speedy decent and they began to pick up speed. Everything was going smoothly.

"Yes! Yes – it worked," Astrid grinned. However, she didn't react in time to lead Toothless away from an outcrop and they crashed as a result. "Sorry!" she groaned, although because she still wasn't paying attention they crashed again. "That was my fault." Toothless retaliated by slapping Astrid in the face with his ear. His meaning was clear.

"_Too right, it was your fault! You're the one controlling my flight pattern here!_"

"Yeah, yeah!" Astrid snapped. "I'm on it! Position Four...Three."

She brought Toothless into a climb. The wind blew her bangs out of her face and made her plait stream out behind her. The feeling was exhilarating.

"Woo-hoo! Go, baby!" she hooted. "Oh, this is amazing! The wind in my... CHEAT SHEET!" she yelped as her sheet came loose from its clasp. "STOP!" The next thing Astrid knew, she was above Toothless and they began falling towards the earth.

It took some yelling and Astrid got slapped in the face again but somehow she managed to get back in the saddle. By this time, they were going too fast to stop, despite Astrid's efforts to bring Toothless to a halt. Astrid grabbed the cheat sheet from her mouth and tried looking at it but the wind caused the parchment to flap so much that it was a lost feat before she'd even attempted it.

"Scrap this," she huffed. Ditching the cheat sheet, Astrid bent down on the saddle, gritting her teeth as she saw the oncoming outcrops. She put all of her attention into flying and something happened...something clicked.

She and Toothless moved as one. As Astrid shifted her foot, Toothless seemed to already know what she wanted to do and where she wanted to go. As Toothless moved even the slightest muscle, Astrid seemed to already know his next move and shifted the tail fin into position accordingly. Astrid was using positions that weren't even on the cheat sheet. They eventually emerged from the outcrops. Test Flight: Success.

"YEAH!" Astrid cried in elation. Toothless expressed his own joy by setting off a fireball, forgetting that humans weren't as fireproof as dragons. "You've got to be kidding me..."

/\

Singed hair and clothes... how was Astrid going to explain this one to anyone? Hiccup was pretty much on her case as it was so she might have to wait until after nightfall to go back into the house so that she'd have a chance to clean up!

"Note to self, don't let Toothless let off fireballs like that when he's happy," she muttered, turning a fish over a small fire. Astrid and Toothless had made their way to a small volcanic island and had caught themselves some fish for supper. Next to her, Toothless regurgitated a fish head for his rider.

"No thanks," Astrid grimaced. "I'm good," she added, holding up her roasting cod. A squeaking made her look up. It was a small flock of Terrible Terrors – nothing too big, there was about four of them but remembering what had happened in Dragon Training to Tuffnut, Astrid gulped and the growling from Toothless wasn't helping. The tiny dragons tried to help themselves to his fish but only one (a red and green one) was able to grab the fish head from earlier. It squabbled with a yellow and blue Terror, eventually scaring it off with a blast of flame. Another Terror (also green and red) managed to grab a fish from the pile but this only resulted in a tug-of-war between it and Toothless. Toothless barely needed to try – he yanked the fish away and chuckled as he swallowed it. The Terrible Terror advanced and got ready to breathe fire...

...when Toothless shot a small fireball into its mouth, causing it to blow up like a balloon. Astrid couldn't help but smile.

"Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?" she grinned, tossing the poor thing a herring. "There you go." The Terror gulped it up and then settled down by Astrid's side, purring like a kitten. Something snapped in Astrid's brain. How could she have been so stupid?

"Everything we know about you guys is wrong!"

/\

Astrid flicked her pencil back and forth on her desk. She was at her private workshop behind the forge, not wanting to go back to the house. Hiccup had become more resentful to her than normal over the last few weeks and now she was struggling to grasp the idea of marrying him. How could she live with being the wife of the chief, struggling with the fact that her family name had been ruined for near to a decade now and having such a secret like hers all at the same time? To be honest she wasn't sure what was weighing more heavily on her mind right now but it seemed that as the days went by she was caring less and less about what had happened to her uncle.

"That was all in the past," she mumbled. "I guess it should just stay that way..." Something caught her eye. "Stoick!" she started at the sight of her chief and foster dad. "You're back!" She hastily hid her drawings. "Um, Gobber's not here, so..."

"I know," Stoick cut in. "I came to see you." This was a first, Astrid thought. Normally any time that Stoick paid the forge a visit he was looking for Gobber. Well, at least he'd made it back from the expedition safely. "You've been keeping secrets."

"I have?" Astrid pretended to be surprised - she knew she was keeping secrets but she couldn't let anyone else know that, _especially_ Stoick.

"Just how long did you think you could keep it from me?"

"I don't know what you're..."

"_Nothing_ happens on this island without me hearing about it!"

"Oh?" Astrid bit her lip.

"Now," Stoick glowered. "Let's talk...about that dragon." Astrid froze...the only thing that came to mind was Toothless.

"Oh, gods..." she breathed. "Stoick, I was going to tell you I just didn't know..." To her surprise, Stoick began laughing. Astrid played along. "You're not...upset?"

"What?" Stoick boomed. "I was hoping for this!"

"Uh, you were?" Astrid frowned. Clearly they weren't on the same page.

"And trust me, it only gets better! Just wait till you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time!" Oh, he was talking about her 'success' in the ring. Astrid grimaced and prayed to all the gods she could think of that it came out as a smile. "And mount your first Gronkle's head on a spear. What a feeling! You really had me going there, Astrid! After years of the worst Viking Berk has ever seen and not to mention from the dishonoured family..." Yeah, that made Astrid feel so much better. "Odin, it was rough, but all the time you were holding out on me! Oh, Thor Almighty!" Astrid had fallen into a small basket. "With you doing so well in the ring, we finally have something to talk about."

A silence followed. Astrid couldn't think of anything to say when suddenly, Hiccup burst in with an accusing look on his face.

"AH! Hiccup!" Astrid yelped instinctively.

"You know what? I have had it up to...!" Hiccup started to yell but stopped when he noticed that his father was in the room. "Oh. Uh, hi, Dad," he greeted. He nodded curtly at Astrid but his face clearly read '_You got lucky_'. "How'd the expedition go?"

"Nowhere close, son," Stoick sighed. "But I hear you two are up against each other tomorrow!" Hiccup gripped his sword hilt so hard his knuckles turned white and Astrid could tell he was struggling to keep a scowl off his face. "Oh, I brought you both something," Stoick continued. "To keep you safe in the ring." He handed Hiccup a helmet and Astrid a multicoloured armlet.

"Wow. Thanks," Astrid breathed. She had never seen anything like it. Hiccup's face was one of awe – getting a helmet was the biggest honour a Viking could get.

"Your mothers would have wanted you to have them," Stoick smiled as Astrid slipped the armlet on and Hiccup admired the helmet. "The helmet's half of Valka's breastplate, Hiccup." Hiccup recoiled slightly and shot a grossed out look at Astrid who returned it. She couldn't help but feel slightly happy, though – this was the first time Hiccup had ever given her any indication that he could give her an opinion that his couldn't really tell anyone else. "Matching set – keeps her close," Stoick continued, gesturing at his own helmet. "Wear it proudly son – you deserve it." Hiccup nodded, despite himself. "That armlet's made of scales from your mother's first dragon, Astrid." Astrid did a double take. She suddenly recognised the scales.

"Deadly Nadder," she gulped, feeling slightly sick. The scales were neatly overlapped – a sure sign of a Nadder's vanity. Stoick chuckled.

"Smart girl!" he laughed. "Your parents would be proud – you're fulfilling that promise you made. You're fixing what your uncle broke." Hiccup turned his gaze away momentarily before he glanced up at Astrid again. He knew he should be proud of her – any Viking who was able to restore their family's honour was supposed to be one of the most respectable people in the tribe – but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel resentful. Astrid was taking away his one chance to prove that he was more than the scrawny son of the chief – winning dragon training would mean that no one from any other tribes could ever mock him for his size again (it was worst coming from the heir to the Berserkers, Dagur). Astrid removed the armlet and placed it on her desk before faking a yawn.

"I really should get some sleep," she said.

"Yes," Stoick agreed, ushering Hiccup out of the workshop. "Good talk."

"I'll see you guys back at the house," Astrid nodded. "And thanks for the...dragon-let."

"The armlet," Stoick nodded.

"Yeah, and the...um...breast-hat," Hiccup put in awkwardly. Astrid hid a smirk - underneath everything, Hiccup was still as much of an awkward teenager as she was.

"The hat," Stoick repeated. Hiccup raced off, followed by his dad. As soon as she was alone, Astrid put her hands on her hips and sighed.

As soon as he was outside, Stoick put his hands on his hips and smiled. Meanwhile, Hiccup walked a few steps behind his father on the way back to the house before turning back to the forge and glaring in the direction of Astrid's workroom. He would show her tomorrow that it would take more than a few fancy tricks to _really_ defeat a dragon.

* * *

**AN: Happy New Year, readers!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: This Time For Sure**

Astrid gulped as the Gronkle soared over her head. She had not planned this in a million years! Okay, true enough she'd finally gotten out of just being the girl-who-messes-everything-up but in hindsight, she wasn't sure if going up against Hiccup of all people in the final rounds of Dragon Training was the best thing in the world to happen to her - in fact, it was probably on the other end of the spectrum. Hiccup, fully equipped with his new helmet, his favourite sword and shield, ducked down next to her and on seeing her, pushed her shield down so that he could speak right in her face.

"Stay out of my way," he growled threateningly, his eyes flashing dangerously. "_I'm_ winning this thing!" With that, he darted off.

"Sure," Astrid shrugged. "Please, by all means..." She stood up at turned to face Stoick. She nodded at him but sagged when she heard the Gronkle right behind her. Meanwhile, Hiccup was advancing, sword in hand.

"This time," he muttered. "This time for sure!" Peering out, the coast was clear. "YAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHH!" he yelled, charging, only to stop in his tracks when he saw the Gronkle lying on its back next to Astrid. Her weapons, shield and armlet were on the floor but on seeing him she made an apologetic gesture.

Hiccup was furious.

"NO!" he shouted. "YOU DAUGHTER OF A HALF TROLL, RAT EATING SLUDGE BUCKET!" He let out a string of curses that would insult any self-respecting Viking within a two-mile radius of him. Astrid made to leave.

"So, later," she grimaced. Gobber stopped her.

"Not so fast!"

"But I'm kinda late for..."

"WHAT?!" Hiccup snapped, holding his sword up to Astrid's neck. She had never seen him this angry – his face was as dark as thunder and his forest green eyes were firing lightning bolts of hate. "LATE FOR _WHAT_ EXACTLY?!"

"Silence!" Stoick called. "The Elder has decided." Astrid and Hiccup looked up at the Elder (_Gothi, I think her name was_, Hiccup remembered). Hiccup gazed up hopefully as Gobber held his hook hand attachment over his head.

Gothi shook her head.

Damn, Astrid cursed as Gobber pointed at her and Gothi nodded. Hiccup glared at his fiancée, with pure hate written all over his face. Astrid was hardly paying attention – her face was anything but a vision of joy. If anything, she looked terrified.

"You've done it!" Gobber cheered as the rest of the class came in and hoisted Astrid up onto their shoulders. "You get to kill the dragon!"

"Yay," Astrid grimaced. "I can't wait. I am so..."

_Leaving._

"We're leaving!" Astrid called as she entered the cove. She had her harness already on and she was carrying a basket of supplies. "Let's pack up! Looks like you and I will be taking a little vacation... forever." Stooping down to double-check the basket, Astrid sighed. Everything was so screwed up. She hadn't meant to win! That stupid Gronkle was just expecting a scratch. "Oh, man..."

_SHLINK_

The sound of stone against metal made Astrid raise her head. Sitting on a rock right in front of her was the last person she wanted to see.

"AH! What the...? What are you doing here?" she stuttered. It was Hiccup.

"I want to know what's going on," the boy growled, satisfied that his sword was sharp enough. "Nobody just_ gets_ as good as you, Astrid – _especially_ you," he continued, advancing on Astrid. "Start talking!"

"Umm..." Astrid stammered.

"Are you training with someone?" Hiccup pressed. Astrid couldn't get a word in edgewise. "It had better not involve this!" he added, yanking her harness.

"I know, this looks really bad but, uh...OOF!" Astrid exclaimed as Hiccup shoved her to the floor. He had heard something. She had to get him out of here. "You're right!" she called. "I'm through with the lies. You see, I've been making...outfits." _Okay, where did that come from? Darn you, Loki, God of Trickery and Lies_, Astrid cussed. "So, yeah, you got me. It's time everyone knew. Drag me back, here we go...YEOW!" she yelped as Hiccup twisted her arm back, causing her to fall backwards onto the ground. "Why would you DO that?"

"_That's_ for the lies," Hiccup snapped, stamping on her leg. "And _that_..." he added, bouncing the hilt of his sword on her stomach. "...is for everything else." A snapping twig caught his attention.

"Oh, no," Astrid moaned, getting up. Then Hiccup saw it...a black dragon...Night Fury.

"ASTRID, GET DOWN!" he yelled, throwing himself at Astrid. The dragon charged. Even though he hated her, Hiccup still felt the need to protect Astrid. "RUN! RUN!" he shrieked, shooting to his feet and preparing to fight, raising his sword above his head and getting into a fighting stance.

"NO!" Astrid cried, launching herself at Hiccup, throwing him to the floor before he got hurt. She tossed his sword out of arm's reach and turned to the dragon. "He's a friend!" she soothed. Turning to Hiccup, she grimaced. "You just scared him."

"_I_ scared_ him_?" Hiccup repeated when he realised something. Did Astrid just say...? "Who is 'him'?"

"Um...Hiccup, Toothless," Astrid introduced. "Toothless, Hiccup." The dragon growled. _Way to make a first impression, bud_, Astrid thought. Hiccup took one more look at the pair.

"You are so busted!" he hissed before he ran back towards the village.

"Dat, dah, dah. We're dead!" Astrid huffed. Toothless headed over to the lake. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where do you think you're going?"

* * *

**AN: And...that's where I'm ending the chapter. Don't worry - Romantic Flight is coming right up!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Romantic Flight**

Hiccup raced through the woods as fast as his legs could carry him. How could Astrid betray her village like this? She had hidden and befriended a dragon – the worst dishonour any Viking could ever bring upon their family! And not just a dragon – a Night Fury! She _had_ been telling the truth during that raid. No wonder she had gotten so good – she had learned from the source of knowledge itself. She was so going to...

"WHOA!" he shrieked as he jumped off a log but never touched the ground. A large black paw had grabbed his arm and he was now dangling in the air. "Oh, great Odin's ghost...this isn't...no! NO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" He thrashed around, shrieking every curse he could think of until he was dumped on a tree branch. A large black dragon with a blonde Viking girl sitting astride it landed on top of said tree and caused it to bend. Oh, perfect, now she was_ flying_ the damn thing?!

"ASTRID!" Hiccup yelled, clinging to the branch of the pine tree for dear life. "YOU GET ME DOWN FROM HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"Hiccup, you have to give me a chance to explain," Astrid grimaced.

"I AM _NOT_ LISTENING TO_ ANYTHING_ YOU HAVE TO SAY, YOU SNEAKING, RAT-BAG BETRAYER!" Hiccup roared, edging towards the tree trunk.

"Fine, then I won't speak," Astrid huffed , albeit wincing at the insult as she crossed her arms in annoyance. Gods, was she ever going to get this guy to just shut up as listen for once in his life? "Just at least let me show you."

Hiccup glanced down. It was either dragon or fall to his death. He didn't particularly like either option.

"Please, Hiccup," Astrid pleaded. Reluctantly, Hiccup hoisted himself onto the dragon, slapping away Astrid's hand sharply.

"Now get me down," he commanded, trying and failing to keep the fear out of his voice.

"Toothless, down," Astrid repeated. "_Gently_!" she added. Toothless spread his wings and Astrid turned to her passenger. "See? Nothing to be afraid of."

Spoke too soon.

"AAAHHH!" Hiccup screamed as Toothless launched into the sky. Astrid didn't know what was going on.

"TOOTHLESS!" she yelled. "What is WRONG with you? Bad dragon!" she snapped as Hiccup clung onto her for dear life. She turned her head slightly and gave a nervous laugh. "Erm, he's not normally like this...Thor, dammit," she moaned and Toothless folded his wings and flew towards the sea. He then proceeded to continuously take a dip in the water, soaking both teens on his back.

"Toothless, you idiot! What are you doing?" Astrid scolded. "We need him to _like_ us!"

Toothless continued to ignore his rider and the screams of their passenger. Before long Hiccup gave up screaming and buried his head in Astrid's shoulder, his arms wrapped so tightly around her waist Astrid herself was amazed that he wasn't strangling her and his forest green eyes screwed tight shut. It didn't help him in the slightest though as Toothless flew back into the air and started a set of corkscrew manoeuvres.

"And now he's spinning," Astrid growled sarcastically. "Thank you for nothing, you_ useless_ reptile!" she added as the dragon went into a series of inverted flight spins.

Hiccup felt as if he was going to die.

"Dear gods...what did I do to deserve...?" he began muttering fearfully to himself when he stopped in his tracks. The question sounded stupid, screaming at him that he already knew the answer. Suddenly, Hiccup realised how cruel he'd been to Astrid for all these years:

/\

"_If you think I'm gonna marry __her__ you've got another thought coming!"_

_/\_

_Astrid tried to comfort Hiccup and he sat on the stairs glaring into nothingness. Valka hadn't been seen since the dragon attack the previous week and Hiccup hadn't spoken to anyone._

_"I'm sorry..." Astrid started whispering._

_"Go away," Hiccup hissed._

_"I know how you feel..." Astrid tried again, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder only to be sent flying down the stairs as he threw her off._

_"I SAID GO AWAY!" he yelled, storming up to his room. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!"_

/\

_"Your stupid inventions never work!" Hiccup snapped hatefully as Astrid began scribbling plans for a new contraption in her sketchbook. The ten-year old had been doing nothing else since Gobber had given her the dratted thing._

_"You'll see - this one's gonna work a charm!" Astrid protested. Hiccup huffed - she just didn't get it._

_"Sure - it'll work a charm when a Gronkle decides to use it as a mattress."_

/\

_"I've got a newsflash for you. Our parents' war is about to become ours. I suggest you figure out which side you're on!"_

/\

Astrid had been as much against the idea of being engaged to Hiccup just so that her family name could be saved as Hiccup had ever been. Astrid had only been trying to comfort him that day when they were five after his mother vanished. Astrid had only been trying to show everyone she was more than the niece of Frozen Finn Hofferson - she wanted to help. Astrid didn't _have_ any parents – the war wasn't theirs anymore.

All Astrid had ever wanted was to fit in and to try to be a suitable future wife for Hiccup and he'd ignored that. Not only that but she'd tried to do everything that anyone would do in her situation – she'd tried to mend her family's name by showing everyone that the Hoffersons were still one of the bravest clans on Berk. Hiccup realised that he would have done the same thing if he'd been in Astrid's boots.

If anything, Hiccup knew he deserved what he was getting but he didn't particularly want to die when he was so close to becoming 14.

"Okay!" he cried, his voice cracking in fear. "I'm sorry! I am sorry! Just get me off this thing!"

As if hearing the boy's words, Toothless suddenly levelled out, causing both teens on his back to yelp at the sudden stop. Astrid panted with relief – it hadn't just been Hiccup who was having trouble; her lunch had been on the verge of coming up! Hiccup still had his head buried in Astrid's shoulder but when he finally opened his eyes, he was in a different world.

Bloodshot clouds circled their heads. Hiccup knew it – he'd died and gone to Valhalla. Still, he had always wondered as a kid what the clouds were like. Lifting his arm, he smiled as the water droplets trickled down under his sleeve. Enjoying himself, he raised the other one. Astrid smiled in delight in front of him. Toothless brought them above the clouds to reveal the night sky and the Northern Lights. Hiccup and Astrid couldn't remember seeing anything as beautiful. The clouds parted to reveal the island of Berk. Hiccup had never seen it from this perspective before – it looked so different. Serene, almost. Smiling, he wrapped his arms around Astrid's waist and placed his head on her shoulder. Astrid blinked in surprise and then grinned. She had a feeling that her feelings had been returned at long last.

"Alright, I'll admit it," Hiccup grinned. "This is pretty cool." No, 'cool' didn't cut it. "It's..._amazing_! He's amazing," he added, patting Toothless on the back. Astrid smiled; Astrid Horrendous Haddock I didn't sound too bad anymore.

The two teens circled the island for a while, admiring the torch-lit windows of houses winking in the darkness as the remaining Vikings in the village began turning in for the night. Even the Wild Zone, which normally looked foreboding and ominous, had a peaceful kind of beauty to it in the starlit night under the Northern Lights. All the while, Hiccup had his head rested on Astrid's shoulder with his arms wrapped gently around her waist and Astrid found herself resting her own head against Hiccup's with one hand taking his.

"Hey, Astrid..." Hiccup whispered after a while. Astrid didn't move her head but her gaze flickered to her fiancé...she inhaled quietly when she realised how right it felt to say that now.

"Hmm?" she replied.

"I...I really am sorry," Hiccup apologised again. This time, Astrid sat upright and turned to fully face the boy who brushed a stray bang of auburn-brown hair out of his face. "For...for everything."

"Yeah, me too," Astrid grimaced. Hiccup frowned at her. "I know I've caused you guys a lot of trouble and...about Dragon Training...I never..." Hiccup hushed her by interrupting.

"No, I was the one being a jerk to you," he grimaced. "I shouldn't have..."

"I know how much it meant to you," Astrid cut across. It was the first time she and Hiccup had ever had a conversation like this. It felt strange. But it was true – Astrid had known what winning Dragon Training would mean for Hiccup. He'd spoken to his father about it enough times. "Maybe I should have realised I couldn't fight dragons before now..." she mumbled. Hiccup placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You wouldn't have met this guy if you did," he smiled slightly, patting Toothless' shoulder. Astrid laughed a little when the Night Fury cooed in reply. "This wouldn't have happened."

"Yeah..." Astrid murmured, smiling at Hiccup genuinely for the first time. And for the first time in almost a decade of living together under the same roof, he smiled back. "You're right."

* * *

**AN: A lot of you said you were waiting for this - hopefully it didn't disappoint (*crosses fingers*). Holidays are almost over so updates will be even less frequent than usual but I'll try to update whenever I can. Until then, see you later!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven: Dragon's Den**

"So what happens now?" Hiccup asked. Astrid's smile faded. "Astrid – your final exam is tomorrow! You know you're gonna have to kill a..." Hiccup cut himself off before whispering in Astrid's ear. "...kill a dragon." Astrid grimaced.

"Don't remind me," she moaned. Suddenly, Toothless jerked and flew further into a wall of fog that Astrid had failed to notice. "Toothless, what's happening?" Astrid yelped. They nearly flew into a Monstrous Nightmare. "Get down," she hissed, dropping as low as she could on Toothless' back. More dragons surround them and Hiccup was getting increasingly worried.

"What's going on?" he whispered.

"I don't know," Astrid replied. "Toothless, boy, you've gotta get us outta here..." Toothless just shook of his rider's hand. Astrid's gaze was diverted to a dragon carrying a large animal - she couldn't tell what it was. "It looks like they're hauling in their kill." Hiccup gulped.

"Um...what does that make us?" he grimaced. He winced when Astrid elbowed him sharply in the chest - she knew that Toothless would never do that to her and a friend of hers. Apparently Hiccup was still too much in the dragon-vs-Viking mindset to realise that.

Toothless and the other dragons flew through as series of rocks and outcrops, eventually leading to what looked like a volcano. Entering it, a cavern filled with more dragons than Astrid could count greeted them. The Dragon's Nest.

"What your dad wouldn't give to find this," she muttered to Hiccup who actually had to manually shut his mouth when it dropped onto Astrid's shoulder. The dragons came in their hundreds but not a single one took food up to a roost. Instead, they dropped it all into a smoke-filled canyon.

"Well, it's satisfying to know that all our food is being dumped down a hole," she smirked.

"They're not eating any of it," Hiccup frowned. A lone Gronkle was the last to fly in. At first he didn't appear to have brought any food but he soon regurgitated a whole...small fish. A roar shook the cavern and Astrid knew something bad would happen.

And it did. A large head appeared from the smoke and clamped its jaws around the Gronkle. Astrid and Hiccup froze. Whatever it was, it was clearly a dragon but at the same time it wasn't. This was much worse...it was a monster.

"What is that?" Hiccup trembled. The head was about to descend into the fog again but stopped, catching the smell of something foreign in its hideaway...the smell of human teenage Vikings.

"Okay, Toothless, you need to get us out of here," Astrid muttered. The head came in their direction. "NOW!"

Toothless didn't need telling twice. He leapt of the ledge just as the monster snapped exactly where they had been hiding. The other dragons in the nest swarmed to create a protective vortex around the Night Fury and Hiccup could see out of the corner of his eye a Hideous Zippleback fly into the way of the beast's jaws, saving them but sacrificing itself in turn. There was only one thing he could call it – Red Death.

Later, when the three arrived back at the cove, Hiccup had everything sussed out.

"No, it totally makes sense!" he exclaimed as Toothless landed. "It's like a giant beehive. They're the workers and that's their queen – it controls them!" he explained, leaping off the Night Fury's back. "C'mon. Let's go find Dad."

"No!" Astrid cried, stopping her friend in his tracks before he could run off to the village. "No, Hiccup. They'll kill Toothless. No, we have to think this through carefully..." She walked off to think. Hiccup couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Astrid, we just discovered the Dragon's Nest," he pointed out. "The very thing we've been searching for since Vikings first sailed here and you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon? Are you serious?"

"Yes," Astrid said simply, not turning around.

"What about your family's reputation?" Hiccup pushed further. He still couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Astrid – you've got a chance to make things right for yourself here! You won't be known just as the girl who was married off to save her family name – you could be..."

"You really think I care about that anymore?" Astrid snapped, turning to face the boy, her face showing an expression of determination and defiance that Hiccup had never seen before. Taken aback by her response, Hiccup staggered backwards a few steps. "You think I care that my uncle froze in front of a dragon? Well, I don't! Not anymore."

"Astrid..." Hiccup began but he couldn't finish whatever sentence he'd started. The first time in his life when he wanted to say something and words failed him entirely.

"What happened to my uncle wasn't my fault," Astrid continued, echoing her parents' words from years ago. "So what if Fearless Finn Hofferson froze in fright? _I've_ done something no Viking has done before. _I've_ looked past what we think about dragons. And I'm not going to send the only friend I've ever had to his death just so that your father can find the Nest."

Her answer was final and by the look on her face Hiccup knew there was no point arguing with her.

"Okay," he shrugged, almost sheepishly. "So...what do we do now?"

"Just...give me until tomorrow," Astrid sighed. She'd abandoned all plans to run away now. "I'll think of something." Hiccup nodded before punching Astrid's arm. "Ah!"

"That's for kidnapping me," he glowered. Astrid glared at him properly for the first time and turned to Toothless who was by the lake taking a drink. His shrug was easily understandable.

_"You're on your own,"_ he seemed to say. Astrid sagged and turned away – things weren't fair now her best friend liked Hiccup. Hiccup rubbed his neck as if uncertain about something before grabbing Astrid's harness and pecking her on the check.

"That's for..." he began. What had he done that for? Showing him what dragons were really like? Showing him who she really was? Making him realise what she'd been through? "...everything else," he finished. Astrid blinked in amazement and froze on the spot as Hiccup's lean frame vanished from the cove and into the trees. A grin slowly crept onto her face and she raised the hand which had been clutching her bruised arm to stroke her check. She would never wash that spot again. It was only when she heard a small purr that she realised who was behind her.

"Wha... what are you looking at?" she snapped at Toothless.

* * *

**AN: Sorry it's been a while...ah, well. At least Astrid finally gave Hiccup a piece of her mind.**

**Quick Reply:**

**Hiccstrid Lover - thanks for the review! I'm planning to see if I can do something like this for HTTYD 2 when it comes out (in fact, I've got some ideas but I'm staying quiet for now) but it may wait until after the film comes out of the cinemas to avoid spoiling it for everyone else. As for the TV series, I am in the process of writing adaptations for some of the episodes but it may take a ****_long_**** time to do an adaptation for all of them so I'll see what I can do.**


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